Certainly an Heirloom
The burden of his position was so heavy on Lord Fawn's mind that, on
the Monday morning after leaving Fawn Court, he was hardly as true to
the affairs of India as he himself would have wished. He was resolved
to do what was right,--if only he could find out what would be the
right thing in his present difficulty. Not to break his word, not
to be unjust, not to deviate by a hair's breadth from that line of
conduct which would be described as "honourable" in the circle to
which he belonged; not to give his political enemies an opportunity
for calumny,--this was all in all to him. The young widow was very
lovely and very rich, and it would have suited him well to marry her.
It would still suit him well to do so, if she would make herself
amenable to reason and the laws. He had assured himself that he was
very much in love with her, and had already, in his imagination,
received the distinguished heads of his party at Portray Castle.
But he would give all this up,--love, income, beauty, and
castle,--without a doubt, rather than find himself in the mess of
having married a wife who had stolen a necklace, and who would not
make restitution. He might marry her, and insist on giving it up
afterwards; but he foresaw terrible difficulties in the way of such
an arrangement. Lady Eustace was self-willed, and had already told
him that she did not intend to keep the jewels in his house,--but in
her own! What should he do, so that no human being,--not the most
bigoted Tory that ever expressed scorn for a Whig lord,--should be
able to say that he had done wrong? He was engaged to the lady, and
could not simply change his mind and give no reason. He believed in
Mr. Camperdown; but he could hardly plead that belief, should he
hereafter be accused of heartless misconduct. For aught he knew,
Lady Eustace might bring an action against him for breach of
promise, and obtain a verdict and damages, and annihilate him as an
Under-Secretary. How should he keep his hands quite clean?
Frank Greystock was, as far as he knew, Lizzie's nearest relative
in London. The dean was her uncle, but then the dean was down
at Bobsborough. It might be necessary for him to go down to
Bobsborough;--but in the meantime he would see Frank Greystock.
Greystock was as bitter a Tory as any in England. Greystock was the
very man who had attacked him, Lord Fawn, in the House of Commons
respecting the Sawab,--making the attack quite personal,--and that
without a shadow of a cause! Within the short straight grooves of
Lord Fawn's intellect the remembrance of this supposed wrong was
always running up and down, renewing its own soreness. He regarded
Greystock as an enemy who would lose no opportunity of injuring him.
In his weakness and littleness he was quite unable to judge of other
men by himself. He would not go a hair's breadth astray, if he knew
it; but because Greystock had, in debate, called him timid and
tyrannical, he believed that Greystock would stop short of nothing
that might injure him. And yet he must appeal to Greystock. He did
appeal, and in answer to his appeal Frank came to him at the India
House. But Frank, before he saw Lord Fawn, had, as was fitting, been
with his cousin.
Nothing was decided at this interview. Lord Fawn became more than
ever convinced that the member for Bobsborough was his determined
enemy, and Frank was more convinced than ever that Lord Fawn was an
empty, stiff-necked, self-sufficient prig.
Greystock, of course, took his cousin's part. He was there to do so;
and he himself really did not know whether Lizzie was or was not
entitled to the diamonds. The lie which she had first fabricated for
the benefit of Mr. Benjamin when she had the jewels valued, and which
she had since told with different degrees of precision to various
people,--to Lady Linlithgow, to Mr. Camperdown, to Lucy, and to Lord
Fawn,--she now repeated with increased precision to her cousin. Sir
Florian, in putting the trinket into her hands, had explained to her
that it was very valuable, and that she was to regard it as her own
peculiar property. "If it was an heirloom he couldn't do it," Frank
had said, with all the confidence of a practising barrister.
"He made it over as an heirloom to me," said Lizzie, with plaintive
tenderness.
"That's nonsense, dear Lizzie." Then she smiled sweetly on him, and
patted the back of his hand with hers. She was very gentle with him,
and bore his assumed superiority with pretty meekness. "He could not
make it over as an heirloom to you. If it was his to give, he could
give it you."
"It was his,--certainly."
"That is just what I cannot tell as yet, and what must be found out.
If the diamonds formed part of an heirloom,--and there is evidence
that it is so,--you must give them up. Sir Florian could only give
away what was his own to give."
"But Lord Fawn had no right to dictate."
"Certainly not," said Frank; and then he made a promise, which he
knew to be rash, that he would stand by his pretty cousin in this
affair. "I don't see why you should assume that Lady Eustace is
keeping property that doesn't belong to her," he said to Lord Fawn.
"I go by what Camperdown tells me," said Lord Fawn.
"Mr. Camperdown is a very excellent attorney, and a most respectable
man," said Greystock. "I have nothing on earth to say against Mr.
Camperdown. But Mr. Camperdown isn't the law and the prophets, nor
yet can we allow him to be judge and jury in such a case as this."
"Surely, Mr. Greystock, you wouldn't wish it to go before a jury."
"You don't understand me, Lord Fawn. If any claim be really made
for these jewels by Mr. John Eustace on the part of the heir, or on
behalf of the estate, a statement had better be submitted to counsel.
The family deeds must be inspected, and no doubt counsel would agree
in telling my cousin, Lady Eustace, what she should, or what she
should not do. In the meantime, I understand that you are engaged to
marry her?"
"I was engaged to her, certainly," said Lord Fawn.
"You can hardly mean to assert, my lord, that you intend to be untrue
to your promise, and to throw over your own engagement because my
cousin has expressed her wish to retain property which she believes
to be her own!" This was said in a tone which made Lord Fawn surer
than ever that Greystock was his enemy to the knife. Personally, he
was not a coward; and he knew enough of the world to be quite sure
that Greystock would not attempt any personal encounter. But morally,
Lord Fawn was a coward, and he did fear that the man before him
would work him some bitter injury. "You cannot mean that," continued
Frank, "and you will probably allow me to assure my cousin that she
misunderstood you in the matter."
"I'd sooner see Mr. Camperdown again before I say anything."
"I cannot understand, Lord Fawn, that a gentleman should require an
attorney to tell him what to do in such a case as this." They were
standing now, and Lord Fawn's countenance was heavy, troubled, and
full of doubt. He said nothing, and was probably altogether unaware
how eloquent was his face. "My cousin, Lady Eustace," continued
Frank, "must not be kept in this suspense. I agree on her behalf that
her title to these trinkets must be made the subject of inquiry by
persons adequate to form a judgment. Of course, I, as her relative,
shall take no part in that inquiry. But, as her relative, I must
demand from you an admission that your engagement with her cannot in
any way be allowed to depend on the fate of those jewels. She has
chosen to accept you as her future husband, and I am bound to see
that she is treated with good faith, honour, and fair observance."
Frank made his demand very well, while Lord Fawn was looking like a
whipped dog. "Of course," said his lordship, "all I want is, that the
right thing should be done."
"The right thing will be done. My cousin wishes to keep nothing that
is not her own. I may tell her, then, that she will receive from you
an assurance that you have had no intention of departing from your
word?" After this, Lord Fawn made some attempt at a stipulation that
this assurance to Lizzie was to be founded on the counter-assurance
given to him that the matter of the diamonds should be decided by
proper legal authority; but Frank would not submit to this, and at
last the Under-Secretary yielded. The engagement was to remain in
force. Counsel were to be employed. The two lovers were not to see
each other just at present. And when the matter had been decided by
the lawyers, Lord Fawn was to express his regret for having suspected
his lady-love! That was the verbal agreement, according to Frank
Greystock's view of it. Lord Fawn, no doubt, would have declared that
he had never consented to the latter stipulation.
About a week after this there was a meeting at Mr. Camperdown's
chambers. Greystock, as his cousin's friend, attended to hear what
Mr. Camperdown had to say in the presence of Lord Fawn and John
Eustace. He, Frank, had, in the meantime, been down to Richmond, had
taken Lucy to his arms as his future bride, and had been closeted
with Lady Fawn. As a man who was doing his duty by Lucy Morris,
he was welcomed and made much of by her ladyship; but it had been
impossible to leave Lizzie's name altogether unmentioned, and Frank
had spoken as the champion of his cousin. Of course there had arisen
something of ill-feeling between the two. Lady Fawn had taught
herself to hate Lizzie, and was desirous that the match should be
over, diamonds or no diamonds. She could not quite say this to
her visitor, but she showed her feeling very plainly. Frank was
courteous, cold, and resolute in presuming, or pretending to presume,
that as a matter of course the marriage would take place. Lady Fawn
intended to be civil, but she could not restrain her feeling; and
though she did not dare to say that her son would have nothing more
to do with Lizzie Eustace, she showed very plainly that she intended
to work with that object. Of course, the two did not part as cordial
friends, and of course poor Lucy perceived that it was so.
Before the meeting took place, Mr. Camperdown had been at work,
looking over old deeds. It is undoubtedly the case that things often
become complicated which, from the greatness of their importance,
should have been kept clear as running water. The diamonds in
question had been bought, with other jewels, by Sir Florian's
grandfather, on the occasion of his marriage with the daughter of a
certain duke,--on which occasion old family jewels, which were said
to have been heirlooms, were sold or given in exchange as part value
for those then purchased. This grandfather, who had also been Sir
Florian in his time, had expressly stated in his will that these
jewels were to be regarded as an heirloom in the family, and had
as such left them to his eldest son, and to that son's eldest son,
should such a child be born. His eldest son had possessed them, but
not that son's son. There was such an Eustace born, but he had died
before his father. The younger son of that old Sir Florian had then
succeeded, as Sir Thomas, and he was the father of that Florian who
had married Lizzie Eustace. That last Sir Florian had therefore been
the fourth in succession from the old Sir Florian by whom the will
had been made, and who had directed that these jewels should be
regarded as heirlooms in the family. The two intermediate baronets
had made no allusion to the diamonds in any deeds executed by them.
Indeed, Sir Florian's father had died without a will. There were
other jewels, larger but much less valuable than the diamonds, still
in the hands of the Messrs. Garnett, as to which no question was
raised. The late Sir Florian had, by his will, left all the property
in his house at Portray to his widow, but all property elsewhere to
his heir. This was what Mr. Camperdown had at last learned, but he
had been forced to admit to himself, while learning this, that there
was confusion.
He was confident enough, however, that there was no difficulty in
the matter. The Messrs. Garnett were able to say that the necklace
had been in their keeping, with various other jewels still in their
possession, from the time of the death of the late Lady Eustace, up
to the marriage of the late Sir Florian, her son. They stated the
date on which the jewels were given up to be the 24th of September,
which was the day after Sir Florian's return from Scotland with his
bride. Lizzie's first statement had coincided with this entry in
the Messrs. Garnett's books; but latterly she had asserted that the
necklace had been given to her in Scotland. When Mr. Camperdown
examined the entry himself in the jewellers' book, he found the
figures to be so blotted that they might represent either the 4th or
24th September. Now, the 4th September had been the day preceding
Sir Florian's marriage. John Eustace only knew that he had seen the
necklace worn in Scotland by his mother. The bishop only knew that
he had often seen them on the neck of his sister-in-law when, as
was very often the case, she appeared in full-blown society. Mr.
Camperdown believed that he had traced two stories to Lizzie,--one,
repeated more than once, that the diamonds had been given to her in
London, and a second, made to himself, that they had been given to
her at Portray. He himself believed that they had never been in
Scotland since the death of the former Lady Eustace; but he was quite
confident that he could trust altogether to the disposition made of
them by the old Sir Florian. There could be no doubt as to these
being the diamonds there described, although the setting had been
altered. Old Mr. Garnett stated that he would swear to them if he saw
the necklace.
"You cannot suppose that Lady Eustace wishes to keep anything that is
not her own," said Frank Greystock.
"Of course not," said John Eustace.
"Nobody imagines it," said Mr. Camperdown. Lord Fawn, who felt that
he ought not to be there, and who did not know whether he might
with a better grace take Lizzie's part or a part against her, said
nothing. "But," continued Mr. Camperdown, "there is luckily no doubt
as to the facts. The diamonds in question formed a part of a set of
most valuable ornaments settled in the family by Sir Florian Eustace
in 1799. The deed was drawn up by my grandfather, and is now here.
I do not know how we are to have further proof. Will you look at
the deed, Mr. Greystock, and at the will?" Frank suggested that,
as it might probably be expedient to take advice on the subject
professionally, he had rather not look at the deed. Anything which he
might say, on looking at the document now, could have no weight. "But
why should any advice be necessary," said Mr. Camperdown, "when the
matter is so clear?"
"My dear sir," said Frank, "my cousin, Lady Eustace, is strong in her
confidence that her late husband intended to give them to her as her
own, and that he would not have done this without the power of doing
so." Now, Mr. Camperdown was quite sure that Lizzie was lying in
this, and could therefore make no adequate answer. "Your experience
must probably have told you," continued Frank, "that there is
considerable difficulty in dealing with the matter of heirlooms."
"I never heard of any such difficulty," said Mr. Camperdown.
"People generally understand it all so clearly," said Lord Fawn.
"The late Sir Florian does not appear to have understood it very
clearly," said Frank.
"Let her put them into the hands of any indifferent person or firm
till the matter is decided," said Mr. Camperdown. "They will be much
safer so than in her keeping."
"I think they are quite safe," said Frank.
And this was all that took place at that meeting. As Mr. Camperdown
said to John Eustace, it was manifest enough that she meant "to hang
on to them." "I only hope Lord Fawn will not be fool enough to marry
her," said Mr. Camperdown. Lord Fawn himself was of the same way of
thinking;--but then how was he to clear his character of the charge
which would be brought against him; and how was he to stand his
ground before Frank Greystock?